Benjamin "Ben" Kirby Tennyson (Ben 10)

The main protagonist of the show. Initially a regular ten-year-old kid, Ben Tennyson happened to accidentally stumble upon the Omnitrix, a powerful watch-like alien device, which promptly attached to his wrist. After discovering that it allows him to turn into various alien creatures, each with their own set of powers, he quickly takes advantage of the situation by becoming a Super Hero, dealing with various human, alien, and supernatural threats. Though initially immature and unable to use his powers correctly, he gradually learns, eventually becoming a Living Legend and saving the universe several times.All Series

Adorkable: The boy definitely has his moments, like when he was asking out Julie in "Pier Pressure".

Adaptational Badass: Video game incarnations of the character tend to give him better hand-to-hand skills, which, while he has in the show, does not use very often. This is presumably to give at least some sort of attack for when the Omnitrix times out.

All-Loving Hero: For all the jerkassery he is capable of, Ben always does his best to help and save the people around him.

Ascended Fanboy: He was a big fan of superheroes as a whole long before he became one himself.

Badass Boast: Delivers a quite epic one to the Forever Knights in Ultimate Alien. It scares them into leaving:

"Maybe you have forgotten something: I'm Ben Tennyson, wielder of the most powerful weapon in the universe. I stopped the Highbreed invasion, I defeated Vilgax in hand-to-hand combat, and I've beaten the Forever Knights more times than I can count. Here's what's going to happen: you're going to release these prisoners, you're going to crawl back to wherever you came from, and you're going to stop hunting down aliens because if you don't, I promise, you'll regret it for the rest of your very short lives."

Book Dumb: Ben generally isn't portrayed as a very good student, though whether he actually is bad at it or just too lazy depends on the series.

Boxing Lessons for Superman: The reason for the Brought Down to Badass entry below; starting with Alien Force, Ben started learning some basic martial arts from Gwen, and apparently received basic Plumber training. As shown in "And Then There Were None", this is something all Bens (including No-Watch Ben) apparently have in common.

Brilliant, but Lazy: It's hinted several times that Ben is smarter than his attitude would suggest; he has an almost photographic memory, shows resources to adapt when the Omnitrix gives him the wrong alien, and can get an extremely good grade when he is working seriously at school. Khyber even admitted at one point he was a "smart kid."

Brought Down to Badass: On occasions, Ben has been separated from the Omnitrix, unable to use it or merely staying in human form. His ten-year-old self was still shown to be quite good using high-tech weapons, and his teenage self has acceptable fighting skills, at one point displaying enough agility and reflexes to disarm Manny while still in human form.

Butt-Monkey: In the original series, often as a result of his own actions. It stopped in the Alien Force/Ultimate Alien era, but for some reason, the writers decided to bring it back in Omniverse.

Catchphrase: "Going Hero" in the original series and "It's Hero Time!" Alien Force onwards. He also frequently says "Aw Man!" when a situation is bad or the Omnitrix gives him the wrong alien (usually Gray Matter).

Characterization Marches On: The original series portrayed him as a rather generic Bratty Half-PintIdiot Hero with one big Chronic Hero Syndrome. Alien Force's first two seasons then matured him into a responsible leader with some Messianic Archetype tendencies and amplified his chronic hero syndrome; in season 3, the writers took the liberty of making him more like his younger, immature self... a little too much like his younger self. Fortunately, by Ultimate Alien, they moderate his competence and silliness as opposed to focusing on one or the other. Omniverse dials down the immaturity somewhat, and instead focuses more on the fact that he's been in this superhero business for years, and thus knows the ups, downs, lefts, and rights, likely to contrast him with Rook's heavy training but small experience in the field.

Chronic Hero Syndrome: One of his most defining traits from the beginning of the show; even before he got the Omnitrix, Ben had an almost obsessive desire to help people around him whenever he can, sometimes at his own expense. This is why he Jumped at the Call when he got the Omnitrix. Partially deconstructed in the Alien Force/Ultimate Alien era, where it's shown he takes it so far he is unable to sacrifice anyone (except himself), even if it mean saving millions others. He will always try to find a better way if he can.

Civvie Spandex: Though he does call himself a superhero, Ben doesn't wear any special costume, instead merely using his regular clothes. Some of his aliens forms, on the other hand, wear costumes made from his clothes in the Original Series and Omniverse.

Easily Impressed: Despite being the owner of quite possibly the most powerful tool in the universe (or multiverse...omniverse?) he can find himself awestruck and captivated by the most mundane of things. This gets downplayed in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, but comes back in full force in Omniverse. For instance, in the Omniverse episode, "Third Time's the Charm", of all the magical sorcery he bears witness too, the thing that amazes him most is... a card trick.

Future Badass: Ben 10,000 is an adult version of him who patrols the entire world, thus making mundane police obsolete.

Keet: Again, Depending on the Writer, but he is typically despicted as skinnier than average, fairly hyperactive, and Kevin once referred to him as "kind of girly".

Leeroy Jenkins: Zig-Zagged; He tends to act like this sometimes and does get called out for his lack of thought. Other times he displays surprising cunning and a knack for outside-the-box thinking. Most importantly, he is good at adapting himself to the situation when the Omnitrix doesn't give him the form he intended to have.

Living Legend: Gradually becomes this over the course of the series. By Ommniverse, his exploits form a chapter and a half of required reading at the Plumber's Academy.

The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Though not clearly specified, it's implied Ben's personality changes according to the form he has. Most of them only cause relatively minor effects (Big Chill is a bit more of a Deadpan Snarker, Spider-Monkey is more excited, etc.), while others will lead to drastic change (Rath is a HammyLeeroy Jenkins, Alien X has three personalities, and Ghostfreak can take over his mind if not careful). In "Frogs of War", his new Incursean form Bullfrag has an outspoken attraction for Princess Attea, which he blames on the DNA.

Nice Guy: Apart from being a jerk most of the time, he's kind, forgiving and can be polite to everyone even though some of them gets on his bad side.

Ben can only use one form at the time, but since most of his aliens are more than powerful enough to deal with entire armies it still counts.

In the Original Series, His future self had the Omnitrix's master control unlocked (which let him change into any alien at any moment) and was so effective a crime-fighter he patrolled the entire planet using XLR8, leaving all police and other heroes obsolete. When younger Ben unlocked the control in another episode of the same series, he was able to take on Vilgax and Kevin and fight them equally despite their Villain Team-Up. Azmuth unlocked the master control again in the season one finale of Alien Force so Ben could take on the Highbreed and their army of DNAliens.

Secret Identity: In the original series and Alien Force (along with Omniverse, albeit only in the flashbacks featuring the 11 year old Ben); interestingly, this is one of the few cases of this trope that completely averts Clark Kenting; Most people thought those aliens creatures were either unrelated to each other or all part of a common team, and no one would suspect it was actually a shapeshifting kid; however, someone did figure it out eventually, leading to his identity becoming public knowledge in Ultimate Alien.

Strong Family Resemblance: Ben gets his hair color and facial structures from his dad, but he inherited his green eyes from his mother.

Voluntary Shapeshifting/Combo Platter Powers: His main ability provided by the Omnitrix is to turn into various alien creatures, each one with its own set of powers. He started out limited to ten forms (hence his surname), only to get more and more as the story goes on. By now, he is assumed to possess more than seventy forms.

His future self has 10,000 alien forms unlocked, and according to Azmuth, the maximum unlockable alien forms in the Alien Force era was of more than one million.

Healing Hands: With the Omnitrix's genetic-repair function. Lost during the Ultimate Alien era due to the Ultimatrix lacking this function. It's unknown if the new Omnitrix got the function again.

Translator Microbes: According to Word of God, this is the reason he is able to communicate with most alien species he meets and be understandable even in alien forms that should logically not be able to talk human language. Some of them however, like Sixsix or Wildmutt, possess a language too complex or bizarre to be translated.

Multiform Balance: With over 1,000,000 potential aliens with various powers, he could handle any imaginable situation. Theoretically, anyway, thanks to the Omintrix's tendency to be uncooperative and his own reliance on the Indy Ploy above planning.

Both Ben 10,000's have a variation of this, the original series/Omniverse version having the Master Control and the Ultimate Ben10K able to use the powers of all his aliens without changing his human form.

Thou Shalt Not Kill: Ben lives by this principle and refuses to flat out kill anyone. If they're too dangerous, such as with Kevin's rampage, he will abandon this rule altogether.

Trademark Favorite Food: As a teenager, he has a fondness for smoothies and to a minor extent chili fries. Ironically, Omniverse reveals he hated smoothies as a preteen before he gained a taste for them with age.

In "A Jolt From the Past", when Rook asks whether they should go out for celebratory smoothies, Ben notes that smoothies are for the day time and chili fries are a night food.

Transformation Name Announcement: Mainly in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, though it does pop up on occasion before or after, such as during "Of Predators and Prey" in Omniverse, after transforming into Humungousaur for the first time after many attempts.

True Companions: Himself, Gwen and Grandpa Max in the original. Himself, Gwen and Kevin in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. Himself and Rook in Omniverse.

The Unchosen One: By Azmuth until the finale of Ultimate Alien, where he finally admits Ben is worthy and gives him the final version of the Omnitrix.

Weirdness Magnet: Partially justified in that being the wearer of the Omnitrix automatically makes him the target of every alien psycho trying to get it for nefarious purpose, but even without taking this in account, Ben almost systematically ends up in places with aliens, mutants, sorcerers and other strange things are happening.

You Are Not Alone: In Alien Force his Grandpa tells him that Ben cannot go about being a hero alone, and that he needs to put together a team.

This is eventually defied in the episode "Of Predators And Prey: Part 1", where Ben dumps Rook as a partner. To make matters worse, he gets captured by Khyber in the end. Then it's revealed that Ben and Rook planned this all along and only pretended to argue with one another (although Rook didn't catch that part when he went into his "The Reason You Suck" Speech).

Comes Great Responsibility: Averted; despite his strong will to help and protect people, Ben would use his powers for personal gain on amusement at any moment (getting revenge on bullies, cheating at games, even once stealing video games), though this often led to the worst possible result, and he draws a line at doing anything that would actually hurt/kill people.

Flanderization: 10 year old Ben from the Original Series era underwent this when he appeared in an Ultimate Alien episode through the fact that he is somehow even less well behaved than he was in the Original Series.

Amazingly, Omniverse placed this even further by flanderizing him again. While he always was immature and obnoxious in the original series, The Omniverse portrayal of the younger Ben (who is presented as being 11 years old through the flashbacks) takes it Up to 11.

How Do I Shot Web?: Ben initially had a hard time learning how to use the Omnitrix by his own, even causing his first transformation by accident. In the original show, he was able to activate the transformations, but would easily pick up the wrong alien and couldn't decide when he would turn back to normal, forcing him to wait for the time limit to be reached. By Alien Force however, he has learned how to switch between aliens and turn back to normal of his own.

He has a difficult learning curve when he just obtains a new alien, such as with Cannonbolt. It was downplayed for Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, with Ben figuring out how to use most of the aliens rather fast. Omniverse brings back the learning curve a bit, having problems with Bloxx and Gravattack at first (especially with the latter, due to the fact he had difficulties figuring out what Gravattack could do).

This Loser Is You: The show does everything it can to portray him as immature, unlucky, unpopular at school and generally not bright or talented, especially compared to his much more precocious cousin Gwen. Fortunately toned down in the sequels (it comes back a bit in Omniverse, but it's nowhere near the same level than in the original series).

Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Played with in one episode; he is reluctant to fight Rojo's gang when he finds out they are girls, because "heroes don't hit girls". Later in the episode, Gwen tries to take advantage on this to hit him. He has no problem hitting back because he is not in hero form at this point.

Beware the Nice Ones: Even though he sometimes acts a bit egocentric and immature, Ben is still a nice, kind-hearted, and deeply altruistic guy. But push his Berserk Button, and you will regret it. Captain Nemesis, Aggregor and Discroll found out the hard way.

This is especially visible in Ultimate Alien, where it's shown at several points that Ben, when pushed too far, can become downright brutal. The whole point of the show seemed to have Ben struggling to not become a Knight Templar.

Combat Medic: One of the Omnitrix's lesser known powers, revealed in Alien Force, is its ability to repair the damaged DNA of other creatures near its owner. Ben used this to turn the DNAliens back into full human beings, and he also eventually used it on the Highbreed themselves to repair the damage they'd caused by centuries of inbreeding.

Hero with Bad Publicity: In Ultimate Alien, thanks to Harrangue's campaign against him. Though only with most adults; teens and younger kids (and a few adults) seem to think he's absolutely awesome.

Hidden Depths: In Ultimate Alien, it is suggested that the whole Idiot Hero act and constant one-liners as a kid were a coping mechanism so he could deal with having to make life-and-death decisions on a more or less daily basis.

I Hate Past Me: "Hate"'s a strong word, but teen Ben found his 10 year old self to be quite annoying.

Jerkass Façade: In The Forge of Creation, it's stated that the reason Ben acts so arrogant (or at least part of it) is because he's afraid, and it's his way of coping with the stress of being a hero.

Jerkass Has a Point: A case which verges on Informed Wrongness. He's cited as being obnoxious since they ended the Highbreed invasion, which is a fairly understandable reason to feel cocky (which he even brings up); however, he doesn't claim sole credit for the victory, saying that they deserve to enjoy their success. Despite this, he's regarded by Gwen and Kevin as being naught, but an arrogant douche.

Mid-Season Upgrade: Ultimate Alien!Ben 10,000 gives Ben all of his locked aliens that he'd used up to that point along with some new ones in the middle of Ultimate Alien's second season. He also brought back Swampfire and Waybig after the two were eroded into dust by Eon.

Older and Wiser: Significantly smarter and wiser than his 10 years old counterpart. He is still a kid at heart, but he actually listens to advice, accepts others' help, thinks before acting and is less likely to suffer Aesop Amnesia. Took a Level in Dumbass In all of Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.

O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Max knows things are bad when Ben attempts to find and kill Ax-Crazy Kevin in the Ultimate Alien season 1 finale without even trying to find a way to cure him of his insanity.

Pride: Deconstructed. By the first season finale of Ultimate Alien, he outright states that he's grown tired of what comes along with his fame. In fact, the constant pestering due to his fame and the time it took up was revealed to be a major factor for his relationship with Julie taking a big hit.

Real Men Eat Meat: Ben tries to invoke this when trying out a lamb smoothie. But Gwen and Kevin point out meat smoothies are just baby food.

Super Dickery: Season 3 of Alien Force had a whole episode with the Plumber's Helpers attempting to stop an apparently psychotic Ben from killing them and Max while they were trapped on a space station. Of course, it turns out he was just acting like he had gone rogue as part of a test pulled out by Max for the Helpers, but Ben was still scarily good at acting evil.

Took a Level in Dumbass: In season 3 of Alien Force the writers tried Pandering to the Fanbase in a failed attempt to make him more like his 10 years old self, and he started acting more narcissistic and cocky again. Entirely justified in-universe in that saving the Universe went over his head and it only lasts for the first couple of episodes.

Took a Level in Jerkass: In the third season of Alien Force, due to letting his hero status getting the best of him.

Omniverse

Aesop Amnesia: Around half of what he learnt over the course of the previous sequels have been completely forgotten here.

Example: "Something Zombozo This Way Comes", where not only does Ben forget he already overcame his fear of clowns in the Original Show, but the episode ends with him falling into it again, and he doesn't even overcome it a second time.

Arbitrary Scepticism: Doubts the existence of Chupacabras in "T.G.I.S.", even though his Universe includes not only aliens, but also magic, mad scientists, mutants and he has himself been in alternate universes at least twice at this point.

Big Brother Mentor: Debatably his position toward Rook in Omniverse, in the sense he is The Leader and the more experienced of the two. Though he is still reluctant to admit it. He also serves as one to his dimensional counterpart, Ben 23.

"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, NEW ALIEN PARTNER THAT I NEVER WANTED IN THE FIRST PLACE BUT I AM GRADUALLY BEGINNING TO LIKE IN SPITE OF MYSELF..."

11th-Hour Superpower: In "Showdown: Part 2", Ben is finally able to transform into Feedback again, 5 years after Malware destroyed the form.

Famed In-Story: By the time of Omniverse, there is a chapter and a half of required study about him at the Plumber Academy.

Flanderization: The obnoxious, immature and narcissistic tendencies of his Alien Force self in season 3 are amplified here, with his Butt-Monkey status from the Original Show brought back to boot.

Genre Savvy: Uses terms like Big Bad, and in Rad Monster Party, he knows that his friends are being kidnapped, and refers to it as a "horror movie trope".

Hidden Depths: Despite his Flanderization, Ben does have his moments. He can think up winning strategies on the fly, and is quite knowledgeable about his alien forms (knowing Ditto's species' name and home planet, for example).

Innocently Insensitive: Ben is honestly shocked when he learns that "Sludgepuppy" is a racial slur. This is because despite having Lenopan family members, nobody said anything.

Toes the line between this and Noble Bigot when, despite Rook telling him how wrong it is, he constantly refers to the residence of Anur Transyl as "monsters."

Informed Flaw: He's apparently afraid of peacocks. No peacock appears in the series however, so it's never actually shown.

It Has Been an Honor: In "Final Countdown", when it looked like they would die on the base via explosion, Rook tells this to Ben proudly. Ben just responds with a smile of his own.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Frequently, but "A New Dawn" has Ben's transformations inspire a young Vilgax to develop an interest in obtaining the Omnitrix, making Ben indirectly responsible for everything Vilgax has done as an intergalactic warlord.

Nightmare Fetishist: He says that the College Gwen goes to, Friedkin University, is a creepy place and says that this is awesome, saying he's gonna go there. Amusingly, this episode comes right after his fear of clowns returns. He also liked Anur Transyl, saying that a town composed of monsters is cool.

Oblivious to Love: Completely fails to notice any of Ester's romantic advances on him. Rayona notes that he has no knowledge of earthling courting rituals.

She Is Not My Girlfriend: No matter how many times Rook points it out, he constantly refuses to acknowledge Ester has the hots for him and their relationship is more than Just Friends.

Also had this reaction when people (notably Rook and Chadwick) make references to the Belligerent Sexual Tension between him and Kai.

Took a Level in Dumbass: Taken to Flanderization levels on both his 16-year-old self and his 11-year old self, making them both much more bumbling, clumsy and immature while removing a large amount of his badassery from Alien Force. He does have occasional smart moments, but for the most part, he makes his Original Series self look like a genius.

Took a Level in Jerkass: To an extent, there are episodes in Omniverse as well where 16-year-old Ben can be a bigger jerk than he ever was in Alien Force, such as taking credit for one of Rook's ideas, inexplicably treating Jimmy Jones like The Load, mocking his enemies or being generally uncaring of the damages he causes in inhabited areas. His Chronic Hero Syndrome also tends to be very toned down compared to the previous installments; in the Galactic Monster story arcs, he shows little concern about taking care of Zs'Skayr, and was even going to leave Anur Transyl with him still on the run.

Took a Level in Kindness: It's zig-zagged due to the above, but he's genuinely appreciative of Gwen and is almost regretful of his past brattiness when his mind was swapped with his 11 year old self in "Ben Again". His sheer politeness and constant apologies for his behavior unnerve 11 year old Gwen, who initially thinks he's just messing around with her.

Unwanted Harem: Gains one over the course of Omniverse to compensate for the fact that the writers decided to end the relationship between him and Julie in this series. At least four women develop feelings for Ben. Whether Julie is still part of the harem or not is yet to be seen, but they're still considered friends based on how her one Omniverse appearance went.

Comes to a boil in The Most Dangerous Game Show when every girl Ben knows is summoned to compete for his love. Even when all his relatives are sent away, there's a crowd of women fighting for him even when some of them never expressed any interest in him and a few are already in committed relationships.

Would Hit a Girl: He has absolutely zero scruples over busting out Cannonbolt and then Gravattack on Attea and Eighteight in "Vilgax Must Croak".

Alternate Continuity: During Omniverse and in a previous "What if" episode from the original series revealed that there is at least one universe were Gwen is the one who gains the Omnitrix.

Barrier Warrior: At the beginning of Alien force Gwen uses energy to make shields and barriers to fight, though as time goes on she starts using spells again and pure energy blasts.

Closet Geek: For all that Ben is the superhero fanboy, Gwen was the one who made a superhero costume.

Cool Aunt: Implied to be this by her nephew in the future in "Ken 10".

Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Unleashing the full extent of her Anodite powers potentially makes her even more powerful than Ben, being powerful enough to defeat Aggregor singlehandedly and utterly annihilate all of Ben's Ultimate Forms at once. However, since she hasn't gone through the 75 years of formal training required to fully control these powers, doing so for extended periods of time will destroy her identity and memories of her family.

Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Gwen's a prodigy who can instantly master anything, be it athletics, academics, and even the Omnitrix in a "What-If" episode, in which she's instantly better at using it than Ben ever was.

Magical Girl: In the first series she found a magical trinket which granted her magic powers, doned a costume and called herself "Lucky Girl". The only thing she was missing was the Transformation Sequence. In Omniverse she replicates the costume with her Andodite powers.

Ms. Fanservice: Obviously not in the Original Series (she was 10 after all, and this is not that kind of show), Alien Force and Ultimate Alien have her appear occiasionally in a bikini.

Not So Different: For all her criticism of Ben's immaturity and ego, she has her moments of being little better. In the Original Series, she and Ben tend to compete by rubbing their own achievements in each others' faces.

Tsundere: Type A when she was younger. She does care about Ben, but she seems to be near unable to express her affection for him other than by arguing with him. She even mentioned twice that no one can treat him like trash but her. Starting with Alien Force, she becomes a Type B tsundere, but towards Kevin and Ben.

Sarcastic Devotee: No matter how much she mocks Ben and criticizes his immaturity, she will always be there to help him when there is actual danger. It goes so far that when Ben had a crush on Kai, Gwen mercilessly mocked him, yet did everything she could to help him and took his defense when Kai treated him like a pet at the end of the episode.

Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She is short-tempered, willing to take parts in fight when she has the power to fight back, knows martial arts and spends her free time on a computer. She also enjoys shopping, learnt how to dance, and was very eager to take part in the wedding of her cousin during Big Fat Alien Wedding.

All Girls Want Bad Boys: Develops an attraction to Kevin, eventually ending up in a relationship with him. To be fair, she got interested in his softer side, and would usually get mad after his "bad" side, though Word of God has it that this is a case of her liking "a project."

Subverted back in Alien Force, when she's angry about Kevin and Charmcaster kissing. She then reveals she's not angry at Charmcaster for kissing Kevin, as she knows that was just part of an Evil Plan, she's angry at Kevin for kissing her back.

Dude Magnet: In Alien Force and Ultimate Alien,she's attracted the infatuations of Kevin, Cooper, Michael, and Winston. However, Kevin and Cooper are hinted to have had a crush on her ever since the original series era when they were younger, which is confirmed in the flashback events of Omniverse.

Energy Being: She has the ability to turn into one as part of her Anodite powers, though she rarely does it.

Fiery Redhead: Moreso in the third season of Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.

Flanderization: In the first two seasons of Alien Force, Gwen started of as a calm, soft-spoken and responsible person with occasional Tsundere outbursts. However in the third season onwards, she has turned into an sternly serious, moody, headstrong, hot-tempered, stubborn, snarky and occassionally aggressive teenager who becomes easily irritated on occasion.

Clark Kenting: As Lucky Girl, she wears a shirt with the exact same cat motif than her casual clothes, and yet most people don't even notice.

Clingy Jealous Girl: Defied; when she learns the details about Kevin being engaged with Princess Looma, she actually feels sorry for Looma and blames Kevin for playing her just for a piece of his car.

Compressed Vice: In Mud is Thicker Than Water, Gwen suddenly shows a Irrational Hatred for her cousin Lucy, which she is retconned into having since the two of them were 11, to the point she flat-out assumes with no real proof Lucy must be The Mole inside the Plumbers. Nothing in the Original Series suggested anything about this hatred, and it's brought up only so Gwen can learn An Aesop about it to then never be mentioned again.

Demoted to Extra: Not as much as Kevin, but this only applies to some episodes involving 16-year-old Gwen. That said she is still often an important character when she shows up.

Flanderization: Moreso than in Alien Force season 3, making her more moody.

In addition, her character design in this series takes her concept from the original series (intelligence) and highlights it even more boldly through the fact that she is now freckled and sports glasses to compliment her nerdy girl theme.

Insistent Terminology: Prefers to be called by her full name, Gwendolyn, when she starts attending college. This matches up with the original series, where future Gwen said that she'd been going by Gwendolyn since college.

Put on a Bus: In the first episode, along with Kevin. She leaves for college, and Kevin goes to live near her.

Secret Identity: "Mystery, Incorporeal" shows that she's still fighting crime as Lucky Girl, and is trying to keep her identity secret. However, she does publicly use her abilities as Gwen, but Lucky Girl serves more of as a Second Super-Identity.

Teen Genius: Goes to college early in the first episode and takes Kevin with her.

Took a Level in Jerkass: Moreso than in Alien Force season 3. Her jealousy toward Ben gets more emphasis, she is much more likely to get angry and threaten to hurt either Ben or Kevin (she throws them off a flying ship in Showdown, though this was played for comedy), and Mud is Thicker Than Water retcons her having a borderline Irrational Hatred of her cousin Lucy (though thanksfully she gets better by the end of the episode)

Took a Level in Kindness: She mellows out in her appearances toward the end of the series, after she decides to start going by "Gwendolyn".

Kevin was originally a street troublemaker kid with the ability to absorb energy, who got regularly bullied and considered as a freak. Following a short-lived partnership with Ben he accidentally absorbed energy from the Omnitrix, causing him to mimic Ben's shapeshifting powers, but eventually lost control of them, causing him to end up trapped in the form of agrotesque, chaoticamalgam of Ben's ten original aliens. Blaming Ben for this, he went on a vendetta against him and dedicated himself to try to kill him, only to eventually end up trapped in the Null Void. Following the Time Skip between the original series and Alien Force, Kevin eventually recovered from his psychosis and mutation while in prison, and was able to go back to Earth where he starts working as a Con Man. Events led him to meet with Ben again and be forced to team up with him. Despite a harsh beginning, the two eventually reconcile, and Kevin becomes a valuable ally as well as Gwen's Love Interest.

For tropes relating to him as Kevin 11 in the original series, visit the Ben 10 Villains page.Alien Force & Ultimate Alien

Arbitrary Scepticism: Despite living in a world with aliens, Kevin doesn't believe in magic, and keeps saying Gwen's powers come from alien bloodline. He is partially right. This seemed to fade over time. During "In Charm's Way," he told Charmcaster (disguised as a girl named Caroline) that Gwen was "made of magic."

The Atoner: He officially becomes this after seeing Magister Labrid die and turns over a new leaf as a promise.

The Big Guy: He serves as the muscle on Ben's Team and has a tendency to act before thinking.

Body Horror: Suffers from this 3 times in the series as a result of being exposed to the Omnitrix's energy. (1st in the original series, 2nd in Alien Force, and 3rd in Ultimate Alien.) He manages to revert back to normal as each series progresses.

Book Dumb: Plays at this, but is in fact not. Gwen notes that he's good at math and a top-notch engineer, as well as having a knowledge of history. It helps that he literally hasn't gone to school since the age of 11, and most of what he knows he learned on the streets by doing rather than from books by studying. However, some terms like "Sacrelige" confuse him.

Brilliant, but Lazy: He has a very laidback approach to life, and could probably do a lot better if he put in some effort. In Omniverse he does just this, and manages to get a paying job.

Distressed Dude: He tends to suffer this on occasion due to now being the weakest of the group.

Ditzy Genius: While being an expert in mechanics and alien tech, he's clueless and naive when it comes to subjects here on Earth.

Gwen: If it isn't about his car... excuse me, his "ride", or some alien tech, he's pretty much oblivious.

The Engineer: Serves as this role on the team, as he's the go to guy for alien-tech.

Freak Out!: When he's transformed again in Alien Force after he and Ben (unsuccessfully) attempted to hack the Omnitrix. And once more in Ultimate Alien after absorbing the aliens in the Ultimatrix.

Genius Bruiser: He is the team member who relies on brute force the most, and his powers enable him to gain Super Strength and durability. However, he is also exceptionally knowledgeable about alien technology and is a Gadgeteer Genius.

Half-Human Hybrid: Half human, half Osmosian. Notably, this is a Flip Flop of God. Word of God is that the creators of the original series intended for him to be a mutant. [[Spoiler: Omniverse goes closer to the intention from the original series by retconning Osmosians into being a human subspecies, not aliens.]]

Heel–Face Return: He's a small-time crook with a heart of gold who is easily persuaded to join Ben and Gwen in the first episode of Alien Force, which is a far cry from how he was when last left off in the original series.

Heel–Face Revolving Door: Went from neutral to evil shortly before his debut, turned good at the start of Alien Force, turned evil again 3/4 through Ultimate Alien's first season, then reverted back to good in the Season Finale.

Heroic Sacrifice: Non-fatal example. He saves the universe and defeats Aggregor, but at the cost of his sanity.

Heroic Willpower: A flashback in Ultimate Alien reveals he had to concentrate to get back to normal from his transformation in the original series.

Hypocrite: In Ultimate Alien, a weird trend occurs where he starts being more distrustful and judgmental toward people who are either morally dubious or were evil and now trying to reform. Why this is hypocritical shouldn't have to be explained. Those in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks, Kevin!

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He tries to keep up his ruffian attitude, but he has genuinely changed and is now a force for good.

Knight of Cerebus: During the "Ultimate Kevin" arc, where he becomes one of the darkest villains and the show takes on a new level of seriousness. During this time he becomes a deranged, relentless, Power Parasite who absorbs the powers of everyone he comes across. Ben also displays a darker side where he becomes determined to put Kevin down.

Reformed Criminal: Mostly. By his own admission, he's not entirely trustworthy—and a lot of the tech he has in the back of his ride is stolen. Though in his defense, most of the ones he stole from were enemies they were fighting.

The Resenter: When he goes insane again after absorbing the Ultimatrix's power Kevin reveals a great deal of resentment towards Ben. Ben always beat him when they were kids, Ben becomes a world famous superhero while Kevin gets turned into a monster, Ben gets a happy homelife...it's always Ben who gets everything. It's not really made clear how much of this is just the energy-driven insanity speaking and how much of it is real.

Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After being driven insane in Ultimate Alien he decides to go on one of these whenever he's not absorbing other people's powers.

Omniverse lampshades and justifies it by revealing the reason he was still able to always repair his car despite all the wrecking it took is because he used an indestructible piece of Tetramand tech he got from his engagement with Princess Looma.

Out of Focus: In Omniverse, where he accompanies Gwen when she leaves Bellwood to go to college.

Super-Powered Evil Side: His energy-crazy persona comes off suspiciously like this. His personality reverts almost entirely to what it was as Kevin 11, as if they had different memories, and only comes out when he absorbs energy and becomes more superpowered.

Energy Absorption: His original power. Read the spoilers and you'll understand why he never uses it again after the original series.

Combo Platter Powers: Absorbing energy from an alien will cause him to gain some of the alien's characteristics and powers. When absorbing energy directly from the Omnitrix, he will eventually turn into a monstrous, chaotic amalgam of several aliens.

All Your Powers Combined: He at first had Ben's ability to transform, but after getting frustrated with Ben just giving up on him, he turns into an amalgamation of the original ten aliens.

Power Copying: He can also steal the powers of others, and integrate them into himself.

Extra-ore-dinary/Chrome Champion: Capable of turning his body into various metals and/or solid materials that he touches, due to being part Osmosian. Ultimate Alien reveals he learned this from Quarrel.

Rubber Man: He once turned his body rubber after touching the tires of his car.

Midseason Upgrade: Gets shapeshifting powers in The Vengeance Of Vilgax which make him stronger, which he retains even after being restored to human form. Made a plot point in that if he hadn't got them, they'd have been unable to save the world from Hex. This really helps increase his usefulness to the team.

Blood Brothers: With Ben, by his own admission towards Proctor Servantis.

Kevin: Ben's like a brother to me. Even when I don't deserve it.

The Chew Toy: Many of his appearances involve him getting injured... a lot. The Alien Force/Ultimate Alien era showed spades of this, but Omniverse really drove it home.

Demoted to Extra: Even when he does come back, he usually accomplishes even less than his Alien Force/Ultimate Alien self. For exemple, in Showdown, his role in the whole episode consists in... befriending Khyber's pet.

Didn't Think This Through: In "OTTO Motives" both his car and Rook's truck got totaled in the fight between Ben and Villain of the Week OTTO, who stole Warlord Gar's collection of the most valuable cars in the galaxy. As a sign of gratitude for saving the collection, Gar gave the car of his choise to Kevin, who chose the one made of solid taydenite. As he explained later he planned to sell it, so both he and Rook could rebuild their own rides. However, as Ben pointed it out, it'll be very hard to find a buyer for something that expensive.

Fake Memories: The Rooters are revealed to have implanted some in his head to get him close to Ben. One of these false memories is his Osmosian father, Devin Levin.

Flanderization: His character design in this series takes his concept from the original series (ruffian) and highlights it even more boldly through the fact that he now wears tattered clothes with eye liner and looks like he just got back from a mosh pit show.

Good Scars, Evil Scars: Receives an X-shaped scar on his chin from being whipped by Swampfire. The same scar he had as Kevin 11,000 in the original series.

Half-Human Hybrid: Retconned. He's not an alien at all, "Osmosians" are just humans with a unique genetic component (mutants) that gives them powers, Kevin's being energy/matter absorption.

Manchurian Agent: Proctor Servantis altered his memories to get him close to Ben.

Never My Fault: Seems to have developed this problem again. When Looma first shows up, he makes up many excuses as to why he bailed on her before finally just saying "It wasn't my fault!" Even by the end of the episode, he hasn't learned any better.

No Yay: In-universe, this is his reaction to seeing Bullfrag flirting with Attea.

Put on a Bus: In the first episode, Gwen leaves for college, and he leaves to live near the campus.

Not as You Know Them: When he comes back, he now has a stubble, paler skin, some alterations in his outfit like dark stripes along his sleeves, and a shadier, more unpleasant attitude toward Ben and Rook.

Tomato in the Mirror: He finds out that just about everything people know of him and what he knows of himself is wrong and based around false memories planted in him by Proctor Servantis of the Rooters. He naturally takes this pretty hard.

Took a Level in Dumbass: It's not as bad as Ben, but still, he is portrayed as even less thinking his actions through and with a chance of his schemes backfiring that rivals Argit. He also is the only one who fails to guess that Bullfrag is Ben in Frogs of War.

Adorkable: While he is a impressively effective fighter, he is socially awkward due to his lack of knowledge of Earth's customs and not understanding sarcasm.

Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite being an alien in a world with various alien species running around, high-tech weapons and many other things, he believes Alien X is nothing more than a legend. He does see him in "So Long and Thanks For The Smoothies?" but his memory got erased when Alien X had to recreate the whole universe. He finally sees Alien X for real in "Universe Vs. Tennyson," and proclaims him to be "awesome."

Ascended Fanboy: He admires Ben; his personal reason for coming was to see if Ben lived up to the legend.

Because of this, when Albedo swaps places with Ben and appears to be taking Rook's advice, he wanted so badly to believe that it really was Ben that he never questioned him being an imposter, letting Albedo do as he pleased and keeping the real Ben in plumber prison as a result.

Badass Bookworm: He is extremely well read and knowledgeable about galactic history, science, and technology.

Badass Normal: Unlike most alien species in the series, he lacks any ability that could be considered a super-power by human standards, and relies solely on his tech and Plumber training. Doesn't stop him from kicking ass.

Bash Brothers: With Ben. The episode title Bros In Space lampshades it.

As see in "So Long, and Thanks for the Smoothies?", seeing the Vreedle Brothers makes him pissed due to the fact that the two destroyed the Plumbers Academy and forced him to take his final exam in a space trailer.

Extended time around Pax is shown to irritate him to an un-Rook-like degree.

Rook: I am suppressing a very strong urge to knock you out!

Beware the Nice Ones: While polite and considerate, he is still a highly trained law-enforcement officer armed with some of the best equipment in the galaxy. He also has some Berserk Buttons you don't want to press.

Big Damn Heroes: A champion at this. Lampshaded in "Of Predators and Prey".

Bond One-Liner: Played for laughs; due to Ben's Deadpan Snarker tendencies, he believes he's supposed to say something witty after subduing a criminal. The results are usually lame.

But I Read a Book About It: Rook doesn't have much experience dealing with actual bad guys but claims he has studied them extensively, however this makes it easier for the villains to fool him.

By-the-Book Cop: Rook is described as "all training, no experience". He also treated Ben as a superior rather than like a friend when they first met, acting respectful toward him and calling him "Sir", until Ben asked him to just call him Ben. However, unlike the usual exemple, he is less experienced than Ben.

Captain Obvious: Tends to point out obvious things to Ben quite frequently:

Rook (after witnessing Albedo disguised as Ben betraying them): That is not Ben!

Foil: To Ben; he is a By-the-Book Cop with no actual experience, in contrast with Ben being Taught by Experience with little training. Moreover, he relies on technology, while Ben relies on alien biological abilities. Word of God admitted this was the guiding purpose in his design.

Fur Is Skin: Being a cat-like alien, he has fur, but it looks like blue skin.

Future Badass: In Ben 10,000's era, he is the one set to succeed Max as Magistratus (the supreme leader of the Plumbers).

Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Played with; Ben is far from incompetent and has much more experience, but Rook still displays much more impressive fighting skills and ways to deal with situations.

Deconstructed in "Of Predators and Prey"; after going around with Ben for a while, he ends up believing Ben doesn't live up the legend and only saved the universe because he had people around to help him. This, plus Ben's Jerkass tendencies, led them to argue and split up, allowing Khyber to finally attack Ben alone. While this ultimately seems to have just been a ploy to lure out Khyber, Rook admits that he was actually quite serious during his "The Reason You Suck" Speech.

Naïve Newcomer: Despite having read a lot about his task as a Plumber and trained extensively, Rook had never actually fought criminals before being assigned to Ben. As a result, he is naive and inexperienced.

Nice Guy: In notable contrast with Gwen's and Kevin's snarkyness in the original series and Alien Force respectively, Rook appears to be a nice person who genuinely admires and respect Ben.

O.O.C. Is Serious Business: "Rook Tales" when he learns that Kundo attacked his father, he tells his sister "You're staying here!" He used a contraction, something that Ben, Shar and Young One know he doesn't use and react in shock, meaning he is definitely not taking this news well.

Rank Up: Because of his efforts in leading his team to stop Kundo from destorying the base along with millions of innocents, he is promoted to Magister by Grandpa Max.

"How many times you have saved this Universe? By yourself? Zero! Everytime, there has always been someone there to help you! [...] I have been there! I have already saved you countless times, and I have only been with you a few weeks! I am surprised you made it this far!"

Take note that, Part 2 of "Of Predators and Prey" shows that Ben and Rook were pretending to fight, however Rook didn't get part of that memo and was somewhat honest about that whole "saving the universe by yourself" bit.

Single-Target Sexuality: Lampshaded in "Bros in Space" by his sister—Rook has only ever had eyes for his childhood friend, Rayona.

The Sixth Ranger: A much straighter example than Julie, who only helped Ben's Team on occasion, without any true dedication. Ben at first treated Rook with an attitude newcomers usually get. Later on, he gets promoted to The Lancer role.

Skilled, but Naïve: In contrast to Ben, Rook is extremely well trained, but inexperienced in combat with actual opponents as well as Earth culture.

Spock Speak: In the first three episodes, he used contraction, however, by the fifth episode, he begins to speak formally.

Static Character: Rook's overall personality doesn't change much over the course of the show.

Swiss Army Weapon: His Proto-tool can transform into almost any kind of weapon, including:

The Ace: To the Plumbers he is a legend because he was one of the best. On a meta level, he is one of the few Plumber characters who never was subject to Police Are Useless.

Adorkable: Back when he first met Verdona, he managed to hit this trope while still being badass. The early 1960s setting—so early that one would think it to be fifties if not for the Kennedy reference—definitely helped.

Adults Are Useless: Averted. He has the experience, the tools, and the ability to take down villains with or without his grandchildren's help. He knows about the Omnitrix from the beginning, does his best to help, and, when informed by his grandchildren about aliens or other weird phenomenon, believes them.

Dead Partner: Devin Levin. Though Omniverse retcons this into being a fake memory; Devin doesn't exist.

Flanderization: A minor case, but Max's Lethal Chef tendencies have taken to such an extreme almost every time we see him in Omniverse.

He also seems to be getting more and more strict in Omniverse, at one point even threatening to send Ben to military school.

Future Badass: Not that he isn't a badass already, but his future self in the Original Series is depicted as having lost his arm and replaced it with a very powerful Artificial Limb, allowing him to help in defeating Dr Animo. Omniverse revealed he kept operating for an insanely long time, retiring only at the age of 96, and gained the grade of Magistratus.

Go Out with a Smile: In "Max Out", Max pulls a Heroic Sacrifice taking off the focusing lens of his Null Void projector, turning it into a powerful hand-grenade, in order take out all of the Highbreed and DNAlien army. He tells Gwen to cast a mana shield to protect Ben and the boys before saying farewell to them, then smiling and even giving off a wink when he sets off his makeshift explosive. Fortunately, the explosion doesn't kill him and instead transports him to the Null Void.

My Greatest Failure: He always regretted putting Phil in the Null Void rather than just taking him to prison. This is made all the worse both times Phil returns, the second of which it is revealed that Phil is dead, meaning that Max will never get that second chance.

Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: Never seen without his Hawaiian shirt, unless he's in full Plumber gear. Pakmar even refers to him as "colorful shirt man".

Lethal Chef: He is not a bad cook, he just has very... weird tastes in matter of food and ingredients (termites and squid to give examples). Gwen, Ben and most regular humans are creeped out just by looking at this, but some aliens, like Xylene and Rook, are quite fond of it.

Missed the Call: The Omnitrix was sent to Earth with the intent of Max finding it, not Ben.

Morality Chain: Sort of, to Ben; at least, he played a large part into making Ben a proper hero; "Store 23" shows us an alternate reality where he died just before Ben got the Omnitrix, causing Ben to become even more narcissistic than he already was, create a Telereality show focused around him, treat all aliens as evil and almost cross the Moral Event Horizon by attempting to rip his dimension's Azmuth in half.

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